Ukraine: "There is no school - what are we graduating from?" School leavers abstain from graduation festivities after turbulent final year
KYIV, 17 July 2023 – After completing 11 years at a secondary school near Kyiv, one cohort of Ukrainian school leavers opted to abstain from graduation festivities this year with their final studies wrecked by about 17 months of war.
Save the Children photographed and interviewed graduates from a destroyed school near Kyiv in June, creating a virtual yearbook featuring their hopes and aspirations. The exact location and name of the school is not being disclosed for the protection or for the safety of the children involved.
Since war escalated in February 2022, over 3,300 academic institutions have been damaged or destroyed in Ukraine. While many students we spoke to didn’t feel like celebrating graduation in a school damaged by fighting, most remained optimistic for the year ahead and for their future studies and careers.
In March 2022, tanks, armoured vehicles, and armed men entered a village to the north-east of Kyiv.
“Residents were terrified. Loud noises and gunshots were heard all around, they were even firing at some of the people who were trying to escape,” said Lyudmila, the local headteacher.
Before full-scale war, Lyudmila’s school was a newly renovated building hosting 400 students where every teacher had a laptop, and every classroom was equipped with the latest educational equipment.
Now, all that is left are ashes, debris, and the carcass of a school bus that used to pick up children from a nearby village. The occupying forces reportedly set the school ablaze as they fled from the area.
Without a school, and as hostilities forced families to scatter to different towns and even abroad, students had no choice but to finish the academic year online. When classes resumed in September at a neighbouring institution, even though fighting in their area had ceased, many pupils were afraid to return.
"When we offered to resume face-to-face learning for the first time, many parents did not want to let their children go to school. They were afraid - especially those from the neighbouring village, who experienced persistent air raids. As soon as the air raid started, the parents drove to pick up their children from school," Lyudmila said.
Aware of these fears, Save the Children converted a local government building into a Digital Learning Center (DLC), a safe space where elementary school children can gather for classes and access psychosocial support from trained staff.
Senior students still travel to the neighbouring village for classes, but they miss their old school, of which they have many fond memories.
“In our school, we always had exhibitions and photo days. Each class used to prepare a photo wall and then we would decide who was the best. They were decorated with balloons and colourful stripes. Before holidays, everyone was doing makeshift decorations during lessons,” said Kateryna*, 16, a 2023 graduate.
Kateryna*, 16, a 2023 Graduate
Nadiya*, 16, a Future Cybersecurity Specialist
Nadiya*, 16, dreams of becoming a cybersecurity specialist. Last spring, fighting trapped her mother in a nearby settlement where she worked. Nadiya had to look after her younger brother, sister, and cousin for two weeks.
"The children were very nervous at first, shaking. They didn't even want to eat, but I made them. Once, when it was quiet in the afternoon, and there was no noise, the children decided everything was over and started screaming and fighting.
“I opened the door, stood outside for a few minutes, calmed down, then returned and told them: "They are shooting from machine guns over there; sit quietly." And probably for an hour after that, they sat quietly," Nadiya said as she calmly told the story.